QGroundControl - Weber-State-UAV-Program/Documentation-2024-2025 GitHub Wiki

In this project we use QGroundControl to facilitate the ground station and mission planning. This is an open source project that works very well with MAVLink communication systems. Documentation on this project can be found here

INFO Since our system makes use of the development MAVLink dialect instead of just the standard dialect, it is necessecary to use a specific version of QGroundControl that supports this. In this project we use v4.4.0 RC1 which can be found here

Connecting to the Drone

Connecting QGC to the drone simply requires directing it to one of the two possible sources for a MAVLink stream. If the drone is connected to the base station LoRa this would be the IP address of the base station ESP32. If the drone is connected to the RC Transmitter LoRa this would be the IP address of the ESP32 in the JR Bay mounted on the back of the transmitter.

To connect

  1. Launch QGroundControl
  2. Click the logo in the top left corner
  3. Select Application Settings
  4. Select Comm Links
  5. Select Add
  6. Give the link a name (e.g. mLRS Drone)
  7. Select UDP from the Type dropdown.
  8. Fill in the information for the ESP32 wireless bridge that you would like to connect to.

Example for Base Station ESP32

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Example for RC Transmitter ESP32

image

Planning a Mission

Once you have successfully connected to the drones MAVLink stream and QGC indicates that you are connected you may now plan a mission with QGC.

To plan a Mission

  1. Launch QGC
  2. Select Plan from the top left corner.
  3. Choose the Plan type and begin adding waypoints.
  4. All Plans must start with a Takeoff.
  5. Ensure that the last step in the mission plan is navigation to a way point.
  6. Select Upload at the top of the screen to upload the mission plan to the drone.

The planned mission can now be initiated by selecting the Mission - Precision Landing custom mode from the list of available modes.

[!WARNING] We recommend not exceeding a takeoff altitude of 10m. Most flight testing was completed with a takeoff altitude of 5m.